The Forgotten: Reconstructing Beth
by shimmer-me-timbers
Summary: This follows Beth's journey from the episode Alone on. Of course I'm speculating what will happen but this is my (not-so)perfect scenario.
1. Alone

"Are we close?" Beth whispered, crouching in the leaves with Daryl's crossbow to the ready.

"Almost done." Daryl answered.

"How do you know?"

"The signs are all there, you just gotta know how to read em." Daryl quipped.

Beth lowered the bow and examined the ground. Daryl had been doing his best to teach her the basics of tracking, and she was doing the best she could to absorb all the information. He took a hands-off approach to teaching, letting her do most of the work and pointing out her mistakes with a snarky remark and throwing in the odd pointer or two. So far it was working well; once Daryl pointed out that they spent the first hour and a half following their own tracks. Beth memorized their boot prints, to avoid repeating her mistake.

"What are we tracking?" Beth asked.

"You tell me…" He said matter-of-factly. "You're the one that wanted to learn."

She lowered the cross bow and stood up just giving him a look. He already yelled at her twice about minding her aim, once she pointed it at Daryl while she asked a question and the second time she almost shot her foot off. She took extra care now not to repeat that mistake. He was right, she did ask for him to show her some tips, and she was going to prove she was listening. Beth cleared her mind and gazed at the ground examining the foliage for any signs of displacement.

"Well, something came through here. The pattern is all zig-zaggy."

Daryl silently shadowed Beth as she began following a trail of displaced leaves that weaved across the ground.

"It's a walker!" Beth's face lit up.

"Or a drunk."

"I'm getting good at this." Beth beamed, head held high as she lifted the cross bow back up to position. "Pretty soon I won't need you at all."

"Yeah." Daryl grunted with a little mockingly dismissive wave. "Keep on trackin."

Beth crouched low holding up the crossbow and followed the path left by the walker. The trail lead to a small open patch of ground surrounded by old pines and great big oaks. Beth could hear the walker's groans before she made it to the edge of the clearing.

"It's got a gun." Beth noticed.

Daryl gave Beth a quick nod of approval. She assessed the situation and realized that the creature's back was towards them and he was focused on whatever poor creature he was devouring for an afternoon snack, it looked like some sort of bird. The best plan of attack would be to come up behind him and shoot a bolt through the back of his head before he knew anyone was there. Daryl was running low on bolts so they had to make every one count.

She wasn't the best shot with the crossbow yet, she was still getting used to the weight. It was heavy but it was quiet and didn't have the same kick-back a gun did, she could see why Daryl was so attached. Slowly she crept into the clearing, getting closer to ensure her accuracy minding her footfalls and praying that she was quiet enough to avoid detection. One more step and Beth would be at the perfect distance to take the creature out but as her foot hit the ground a sharp pain surged through her heal sending her to her knees with a loud thud.

The walker dropped his feast and turned around. Beth's stomach churned when she saw the decaying flesh and dead eyes that now thought of her as dinner. Ignoring the pain in her foot Beth held up the cross bow and let a bolt fly, the walker was too fast and it only managed to clip him in the cheek and was hanging out of his rotting mouth. The walker was unfazed and kept approaching but with Beth's foot caught she couldn't reload the bow and have another try. Instead Beth tossed Daryl his bow as he came stampeding by. Daryl finished off the walker with one sharp blow with the butt of the bow.

With the walker dispatched the duo clawed at the small animal trap that bit through the heel of Beth's left boot. The more Beth wiggled the tighter the jaws of the trap clamped down on her heel. Luckily, Daryl had seen a small trap like this one before and managed to disarm and remove it before it caused any more damage.

"Can you move it?" Daryl crouched down and delicately examined Beth's foot.

Beth took a few deep and calming breaths before attempting to wiggle her foot. It hurt something fierce but at least it moved.

"Yeah." She said with a faint smile.

Daryl set back on his heels and wiped his hands over his face, this girl was going to be the death of him. He sauntered over to the dispatched walker, pulled the gun belt from its waist, and raided the creatures tattered pockets. He tossed the belt to Beth and plucked some viable feathers from what was left of the walker's meal. He also found a thin pouch holding three thin but razor sharp throwing blades. He didn't see much use for knife tricks but he figured they might need them later.

"Here, I think you earned this." He bent down and slipped a thin piece of fabric into Beth's left boot. "Keep em in your boot, they're thin and no one will notice em. They probably won't take down a walker or hunting... you have your hunting knife for that... but they might come be useful during a pinch."

"Thank you." Beth smiled.

"We need to find a place to camp for tonight. Do you think you can walk?"

"I can try."

Daryl stood up and brushed himself off and reloaded the crossbow before slinging it over his shoulder. Quietly he reached out his hand and hauled Beth to her feet. While Beth strapped the gun belt on her waist, Daryl picked up a bunch of twigs and shoved them into the bag on Beth's back. Beth hobbled along for a few steps before her grumpy companion put her arm around his neck and snaked his arm around her waist so she could lean on him for support. They walked like this in silence through the clearing, through a short span of woods, and out through the tree line.

"Can we hold up a sec?" Beth asked, letting go of Daryl and crouching to catch her breath and relieve the pressure on her heel.

"You alright?" Daryl tried to hide the concern in his voice.

"I just need to sit down." Beth answered reluctantly.

They stopped momentarily so Beth could catch her breath and Daryl could take in their surroundings. Beth noticed that Daryl was constantly checking out his surroundings either for signs of danger or a reference point.

Off in the distance stood a great old Georgian plantation house, it had to be older than Hershel's farm. It was big and beautiful and white. Between them and the house lay a huge span of grave yard, with a wide array of head stones, statues, and mausoleums.

"Alright, hold up." Daryl said. "Hop on."

Beth couldn't help but stare as her companion slung his cross bow across the front of his chest and crouched down waiting for her to hop on his back.

"You serious?"

"Yes, it's a serious piggy back." Daryl bantered. "Jump up."

With no other options, Beth took a deep breath and did as she was told. Her only concern was breaking Daryl's back before they made it to safety.

"You're heavier than you look." Daryl joked, straightening up and walking towards the house through the grave yard.

"Maybe there are people there." Beth suggested.

"Yeah, if there are I'll handle 'em."

"There's still good people Daryl."

"I don't think the good ones survive."

They walked silently towards the house; the only noise was Daryl's strained breathing. Beth examined all the worn head stones as they passed through. Men, women, and children all from various points in history, lay to rest and be at peace. Beth wondered if they were happy they didn't have to see the world like this.

Beth's breath hitched at she read the engravings on one of the headstones. Daryl slowed down and she hopped off his back to get a closer look. She gazed at the words in stone, reminding her of the things she left behind and the people she would never see again. Her eyes misted over as she read the words "beloved father".

Daryl followed her gaze to the tombstone that lay in front of them; it didn't take much to understand what Beth was thinking about. Daryl pulled a few dandelions from a nearby patch of weeds, they were the closest thing they'd be able to find to flowers, and laid them on the top of the grave. Hershel may have been Beth's blood but he was the closest thing to a father figure that Daryl ever had. Words couldn't describe how much he would miss that tough old bastard.

They stood there in silent reverence, thinking about Hershel. Daryl felt Beth slowly grab hold of his hand. If it had been anyone else he would've pulled away but after everything they'd been through their interlocking fingers gave him a sense of peace and comfort.

"Come on, let's head to the house." Daryl grudgingly broke the silence.

He crouched down again until the little blonde was situated on his back and resumed their trek to the big house. Once they reached the porch he set her down and went to the door. He listened silently; the door gave a wine of protest when he pushed it open. He thumped on the door frame a few times to make their presence known to any walkers or residents in the house followed by a sharp whistle. A few minutes passed with no noise and no signs of movement.

"Give it a minute." Daryl whispered. Beth wasn't sure if he was thinking out loud or if that was directed to her.

Daryl gave the entry way a quick sweep and motioned for Beth to come in and close the door behind her. Daryl gave the first floor a sweep while Beth took in their new safe haven. They were in a beautiful home the walls had pretty floral wall paper, trimmed with white wooden accents. A large staircase stood directly in front of them and to the left and right were viewing rooms.

"It's clean." Beth observed.

"Yeah, someone's been tending to it." Daryl sounded concerned and interested. "They may still be around."

Beth followed Daryl into the room to their left. It had another pale floral wall paper and was decorated with dark wood antique furniture. On the far wall from the door lay an open casket with a body inside. Daryl bent down for a closer look, when he dragged his fingers along the corpse's cheek Daryl bit back a gag as flesh and mortician's makeup flaked off, leaving gooey residue on Daryl's fingers.

They continued their sweep into the basement. All they found was a small room where they suspected the mortician did most of his (or her) work. Daryl riffled through the cabinets while Beth examined the faces of the two dead men lying before her. They looked nothing like the decaying walkers she'd seen in the past moths, but she guessed that the makeup was opaque enough to cover up the rotting look.

Daryl cleared his throat when he pulled some bandages out of the cupboard. He stood with his back to the wall ripping into the packages with his teeth.

"Let's get that ankle wrapped." Daryl saw one of the half painted corpses that Beth was examining. "Looks like somebody ran out of dolls."

"It's beautiful." Beth countered. "Whoever did this cared. They wanted these people to get a funeral. They remembered these things were people before all this. They didn't let it change them in the end. .. Don't you think that's beautiful?"

Daryl didn't answer; he just stared at Beth with an odd look. He had forgotten that these were once people; all he could see were the monsters they became. It was just easier to see things that way.

"Come on." He said quietly, helping Beth sit on the counter so he could examine her foot.

He slid off her boot and shucked her sock, carefully lifting her foot to examine it. There were a few breaks in the skin but those would close in a day or so, the rest was bruising. She could move it and he couldn't feel any broken bones or unusual swelling, which was a plus. He was no doctor but you learn the basics of self-diagnosing when you live with ass holes.

"Your boot saved your foot, if you weren't wearing those damn things you'd have a bloody and broken heel."

"Thank God I didn't wear my pumps." Beth joked.

"I think it should be good in a couple of days." Daryl stated as he wrapped some gauze around Beth's heel and ankle to protect the small nicks and reinforce the stability of her ankle. "Let's go see if they have a kitchen."

Daryl disappeared up the steps, Beth hobbling up behind him. Once Daryl swept the top floor they found a few bed rooms and a small kitchen. The kitchen was crisp, white, and clean just like the rest of the house. The refrigerator was useless so they didn't even bother looking through it, they just opened up all the cupboards and cabinets they found.

"Dang it." Beth breathed as her first few cabinets were empty. "You find anything?"

She turned to see Daryl standing with a double cabinet opened revealing a large pay load of goods.

"Woah!" Beth could hear her stomach growl.

"Peanut butter and jelly, diet soda, and pigs feet." Daryl rattled off the contents of the cabinet. "That's a white trash brunch right there."

"It all looks good to me."

Daryl's mouth quirked at the thought of Beth Green at a white trash brunch. She and her family were the farthest thing from white trash he'd ever seen. He snickered to himself, pulling out the jar of pigs feet.

"Hold up." Daryl examined the jar in his hand. "There aint a speck of dust on this."

"So?"

"It means somebody just put it here. This is somebody's stash… maybe they're still alive." Daryl processed this for a few seconds. "Alright, we'll take some of it and we'll leave the rest. Alright?"

"I knew it." Beth smiled.

"Knew what?" Daryl asked sheepishly as he opened a jar of jelly.

"It's like I said… there's still good people." Beth looked at him as though he were her case and point.

Daryl didn't say anything he just plunged his hand into the jelly jar and scooped a handful of its sweet contents into his mouth. Devouring it like an animal.

"Gross." Beth squealed hobbling over to a nearby table with a jar of peanut butter.

"Hey, those pigs feet are mine." Daryl shouted with a mouth full of jelly.

Beth stuck her finger into the jar of peanut butter, she felt a little guilty but there were no utensils anymore. She breathed in the nutty aroma of the peanut butter, how she missed the simple joys of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Beth delicately licked the peanut butter off her finger and let out a small sigh of pleasure and contentment. Daryl watched her with one eyebrow raised. Beth blushed slightly but continued to enjoy her jar of peanut butter.

When they'd eaten their fill Daryl pulled out the bird feathers and branches he'd stuffed into Beth's bag. He lay them out on the table, Beth looked at him questioningly.

"Now we're gonna make more bolts." Daryl pulled a small bottle of glue out of his pocket.

"Where'd you find that?"

"Found it when I got the bandages for your foot." Daryl boasted. "Now don't change the subject. I saw your cell in the prison, you love this arts and crafts shit."

Without words Daryl showed Beth how to whittle a bolt with her hunting knife, it didn't have to be perfect it just had to fit in the crossbow and have a fine point. Beth enjoyed her lesson on making and attaching the fletching. By sun set they had two dozen new bolts laying on the counter to dry.

As the sun set Daryl headed out to the porch to set some alarms, he tied some old cans together on a long piece of twine and hung them across the porch. Any walker that even attempted to get to the front door would cause enough of a commotion to warn the duo inside.

Beth hobbled around the small rooms on the first floor; she was able to find a box of matches and a hoard of candles that would last anyone a good year. She grabbed the matches and an armful of tea lights and went off in search for a place to bunk down for the night. Daryl suggested they stayed on the second floor in one of the empty viewing rooms. At the top of the stairs there was a small viewing room with an empty casket and a piano. It made her miss the old wooden piano she grew up playing, she would practice for hours on end until her mama would beg her to take a break and finish her school work.

She lit a few dozen votive candles and placed them around the room to create a soft glow. She shoved the box of matches in her pocked for later. It wasn't a campfire but with the curtains closed no one would know they were there. She glanced longingly at the piano, remembering the days before the world went to hell and she still had her family. Finally she gave into the urge and sat down quietly playing and singing until Daryl came back inside.

Daryl followed the sounds of music that floated down the steps. He could hear Beth's airy voice and quiet chords. Any other time it would've annoyed him but peeking into the dimly lit viewing room Beth seemed so at peace. He just stood in the doorway letting the melody wash over him long enough to calm his mind. He had no idea what the song was, which was usual when it came to Beth. Even when she serenaded Little Ass Kicker she sang whatever song popped into her head. Daryl gave her a few minutes before he cleared his throat to make his presence known. She had been so lost in her own little world that the noise caught her off guard; she whirled around almost falling off the piano bench.

"The place is nailed up tight." Daryl took a few awkward steps into the room and rested his cross bow on an antique couch next to the door. "The only way in is through the front door."

He ran his hands over the frame of the empty coffin that lay in the front of the room. Thinking for a few seconds he kicked off his boots and hopped in. Beth looked puzzled when her companion stretched out in the wooden box like he'd done it every night.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"This is the comfiest bed I've had in years." Daryl sighed.

"Really?"

"I aint kidding." He shifted around until he got comfortable.

The last time he was in a comfortable bed was at Hershel's farm the night that he fell off his horse looking for Sophia, fell down a gorge, impaled himself with an arrow, walked a few miles back to the farm and was grazed by one of Andrea's bullets. Once he was patched up Hershel, Patricia, and Beth took turns looking in on him. His heart sank just thinking about all the people from that memory that they'd lost – everyone but Beth.

"Why don't you go ahead and play some more? Keep singing." Daryl suggested.

"I thought my singing annoyed you."

Daryl just quirked a smile and grunted. "There aint no juke box though."

Beth smiled and spun back around on the piano bench. Before long her airy singing filled the room. Daryl just watched her from his coffin bed, watching Beth light up as the music continued. How could she conjure up so much joy in such a dark place and time? This whole time Daryl thought that Beth was just a naïve little girl who sang songs in the middle of a crisis for attention. He finally was starting to realize that it was those moments when the group needed to take their minds off the darkness and remember the simple joys, even if that meant singing a silly song in the middle of a walker riddled prison.

"Now I'm laughing at my boredom, at my string of failed attempts…" her voice trailed off as Daryl fell into the most peaceful sleep he'd had in well, ever.

Daryl woke up the next morning to the afternoon sun peeking through the middle of the curtains. He bolted upright searching the room for Beth, almost knocking his coffin bed off its stand. He cursed himself for sleeping so long and not getting up to keep watch. Scanning the room in a panic, his heart rate slowed when he saw Beth asleep on the sofa curled around his crossbow. Her matted golden hair flared out on the cushion like a halo while she slept peacefully. Beth's eyelids flew open and she sat up with a look of horror when she heard Daryl jump out of the coffin and pull his boots back on.

"Oh my God… I'm so sorry, you fell asleep and I was trying to be nice and take first watch but I was stupid and fell asleep too." Beth panicked.

"'sokay" Daryl said in his gravelly voice.

"No it's not." Beth scolded herself.

"Fine, tonight I'll take first shift. We can switch off every couple hours." He figured that working out a schedule would be better than letting her beat herself up. They were both exhausted and she had a foot that needed heeling.

"Let's go down and see what else we can find in the pantry. I'm thinking it's time for some pigs feet… maybe covered in peanut butter."

"That's disgusting." Beth laughed.

Daryl couldn't help but smile as he helped Beth to her feet, her laughter was infectious. He followed close behind as the little blonde hobbled towards the steps.

"Come on woman, I'm hungry."

"I'm going as fast as I can." She giggled.

Daryl scooped up Beth and carried her down the stairs and into the kitchen. His breathing was labored as he kicked open the kitchen door. She was surprisingly heavy for a petite girl, or maybe Daryl was getting a little out of shape. He'd prefer to think it was the former rather than the latter.

"There you go." Daryl sat Beth down at the kitchen table with a sigh of relief. "Alright, let's eat."

Daryl sat down across from his companion and cracked open a fresh jar of pigs feet. He didn't even get the first one out when they heard rattling cans on the porch. Beth's smile faded and her face paled, she knew her foot was still too injured to be of much use. Daryl picked up his cross bow and headed for the door.

"Stay." He said firmly, usually he commanded but this was more like an urgent request.

Beth nodded but hobbled over to the kitchen door while Daryl loaded his crossbow and slipped down the hall. He peaked out the slats on the front door but couldn't see a thing. Deciding to take a chance he cracked the door open and peaked outside. Standing on the front porch was a shaggy looking one eyed dog.

"It's just a damn dog." Daryl called to Beth.

The dog looked a little weary when Daryl crouched down and slowly extended a hand for him to sniff.

"Hey." Daryl cooed. "Come 'ere boy."

Daryl inched closer to the dog but apparently his movements were too abrupt. The dog let out a bark and scampered off the porch and out of sight, rattling a few tin cans on his way out. Daryl stared after him puzzled, dogs usually liked him.

Daryl closed the door and turned around almost falling over when Beth materialized in the doorway.

"He wouldn't come in?"

"I thought I told you to stay in the kitchen."

"Yeah, but Daryl you said there was a dog." She smiled sheepishly.

"Maybe he'll come back around." Daryl wished aloud. "Come on."

He grabbed Beth's arm to support her as they walked back into the kitchen.

"I didn't do it for attention." Beth said quietly.

"Huh?"

"Back at the farm, I didn't do it for the attention." Beth explained. "I did it because I lost hope. I was in this deep dark place and there was no way out. But when Andrea… well when I broke the mirror and held the glass to my skin I realized that I was being selfish and stupid. That's not who I am and that's not who I wanted to be."

They sat in silence as Daryl processed Beth's words. He had confided in her just a few days ago, now she was doing the same. She was right, she wasn't Michonne, Carol, Maggie or hell even Andrea but there was no doubt in Daryl's mind that there was a reason Beth was still alive. She wasn't physically the strongest but she had this sort of inner strength, an emotional strength that was unique to her. Something that Daryl was secretly jealous of.

They'd slept longer than they originally thought because they were still sitting at the table when the sun set.

"I'm going to leave a thank you note." Beth stated.

She pulled a pen and her journal out of her back pocket. Daryl studied his companion quietly while she scribbled a note then turned his attention back to his half devoured jar of jelly.

"Why?"

"For when they come back. If they come back..." She said slowly. "Even if they're not coming back I still want to say thanks."

"Maybe you don't have to leave that." Daryl suggested as he stared into the jelly jar, he could feel Beth's eyes on him. "Maybe we can stick around here for a while. If they come back we'll just make it work. It may be nuts, but maybe it'll be alright."

He looked up to meet Beth's gaze.

"So you do think that there are still good people around." She beamed.

Daryl shrugged in non-committal sort of agreement.

"What changed your mind?"

Daryl looked away shyly. "You know."

"What?" she pried.

Daryl gave the "I don't know" grunt.

"Don't 'I don't know" me." Beth said coyly trying to coax an answer out of Daryl. "What changed your mind?"

Daryl didn't answer he just met her gaze. He wasn't much for feeling or putting them into words so how was he supposed to tell this angelic young woman that even though the world is shattered she convinced him that there are good people. And that she was one of them. More importantly how could he tell this young woman that she was far stronger than even she knew?

"Oh." Beth breathed as it dawned on her what the answer was in the silence.

They sat staring quietly at each other trying to figure out what to say or do next. The silence was broken by rattling cans and a dog barking. Daryl jumped out of his chair, using this opportunity to avoid the current turn of topics before he admitted anything else.

"I'mma give that mut one more chance." He grumbled, pulling a pigs foot from the jar.

He sauntered out to the front door and swung the door open without a second thought. His face paled as a dozen walkers stood before him. Daryl threw the door closed and braced it with his back as the walkers threw themselves against it in hopes of finding entry.

"BETH!" Daryl screamed. "BETH!"

The little blonde scurried from the kitchen, loaded crossbow in hand. She processed the situation and threw Daryl his weapon.

"GO! RUN!" He shouted.

Beth scurried back into the kitchen. Daryl ran towards the kitchen doorway and spun around to fire at a few of the walkers that flooded through the door. He clipped the first walker dead center of the head, the bolt pierced straight through sending a spray of blood as the walker crumbling to the ground. There were too many, he didn't have the time to reload his bow.

"BETH GO OUT THE WINDOW. GET YOUR SHIT! LET'S GO!" Daryl screamed as he lead the walkers through the funeral home and away from Beth.

"I'M NOT GOING TO LEAVE YOU!" She screamed back.

"GET OUT AND GO UP THE ROAD, I'LL MEET YOU THERE!" He commanded as he formulated an escape plan.

Beth had no choice but to follow his orders, with her injured foot she'd be more of a liability on the inside. It physically hurt to leave him behind to fend off the walkers and make a grand escape.

It took a bit of effort to quietly pry the boards off of the first floor window. She used her hunting knife to pry out the nails and loosen the boards. Within minutes there was a small enough gap for her to wiggle her way through. She hiked her backpack high on her shoulders, checked to make sure her gun belt was secure and wiggled her way through the window.

She landed on all fours in a soft bed of dirt. She ignored the throbbing in her heal as she ran towards the trees that hid their meeting spot. She had her hunting knife in her hand, ready to pounce on any walker that crossed her. Unfortunately she didn't hear this hisses coming from behind her. A sharp yank pulled the bag off of Beth's back and sent her flying head first into a large tree. She cupped the right side of her head with her free hand as she staggered to regain her balance. The world swam and her head throbbed, she could feel bile rise in her throat but she couldn't give up.

It took a few blinks for her eyes to focus on the walker standing before her. Beth kicked her leg out catching the walker behind the knee with a crunch, sending it teetering to the ground. The creature flailed and hissed as it tried to get back on its feet. Beth crouched down mustering all her force and with one swift motion drove her hunting knife into the walker's skull. The walker went limp.

The world was spinning and Beth fell to her knees, she could feel the slick blood starting just above her right temple and rolling down the side of her face. Through the haze she could feel a pair of warm hands catch her by the shoulders. She assumed it was Daryl until a dark hand snaked around her waist pulling her to his side for support. She felt as though she were in a dream as the tall stranger shoved her into the passenger's seat of a dark sedan.

"No." she mumbled. "Daryl…"

"You're fine sweetie, you're safe." A deep voice soothed her. "He can't hurt you now."

"Daryl…"

Her vision tunneled as the mystery man turned the key and the engine roared to life. She tried to stay with it and protest; they needed to back for Daryl. He saved her, now it was her turn to save him. Her mumbles fell on deaf ears. Her vision dimmed as she looked in the rear view mirror, the last thing she saw was Daryl running after the screaming and the world faded to black.


	2. Archangel

Beth was aware of a sharp throbbing in her head. Beth's chest tightened when she felt a warm body lying next to her. Thinking it best to feign sleep, Beth cracked her eyelids and peaked through her lashes. Daryl told her that it's best to take in your surroundings without alerting anyone. She was lying on a small cot in a small sparsely decorated room. The sun peaked between the slats of the boarded up window. She let out a small sigh of relief when she realized that the figure curled up in the cot with her was the shaggy dog from the car.

Sitting in the corner of the room was the man that had taken her. He looked about thirty five with short cropped black hair and espresso skin. From what Beth could tell, he was tall, lean, and quite handsome… if you have a thing for men who kidnap girls that is. Even in the times BEFORE the epidemic this type of situation never fared well for girls like Beth.

The shaggy dog gave away her ruse, nosing her face and alerting his master that their captive was away. Beth sat upright, she swayed a little as the room spun. She had to blink a few times for her eyes to adjust to the daylight.

"You doing okay there sugar?" The man asked with a twang, there was a soothing timbre to his voice.

"Where are we? What are you going to do to me?" Beth asked bluntly, there was no need to beat around the bush.

"I brought you somewhere safe."

"We have to go back! We left someone behind!" Beth protested, all she could think of was Daryl chasing the car screaming for her. He hadn't given up on her.

"I can't leave you with people like him, people like him aint good." The man protested. "A few days ago a good portion of men from my group went out to scavenge for supplies and his pals took out half of em."

"Daryl's not like that."

"Sure he is… that hick's just got your head all twisted."

"He's done nothing but good by me."

She wasn't getting anywhere with this man, he was convinced that he saved Beth from Daryl. She was pissed off that he'd taken her but at least he meant well… well so far. Beth tried to formulate her next move, and the dog cuddled closer to her.

"Don't worry, his name is Gus… he's harmless. Seems like he's taken a liking to you, he sat with you since we got here. Just be careful he might try to lick you face off." the captor chuckled hollowly. "Name's Gabriel Stokes."

"I'm Beth." She muttered to the window. "Now will you please tell me where we're going?"

"It's an old church… my church."

"Your church?"

"Yeah, before the reckoning I was a pastor." He explained. "I holed up in there for a long while by myself. About the time my supplies started dwindling another group of survivors came to seek asylum. Now they protect the church so I can go out and rescue people."

"How do you do that?"

"I have a few safe houses set up in the area. I keep them pretty well stocked and observe the people that stay there. If they seem like good people I bring 'em with me back to the church."

"Do you knock them out too?" Beth shot back.

"Beggin your pardon ma'am but I didn't knock you out. You did that on your own. I just couldn't leave you there in the open waiting for that hick to scoop you up if the plagued didn't get you first." Gabriel reminded her. "I'll tell you what; I'm going to make a trip to another safe house. If you stay at the camp for a couple days to rest up and get looked at by our medic we'll let you continue on when I get back."

"You'll let me go?" Beth sounded surprised.

"Despite what you may think, I aint kidnapping you. We don't keep those who don't want to stay, people are treated well with us but the families usually continue on looking for a sturdier place. We're usually a halfway stop before people follow the tracks to that sanctuary place; I think it's called Terminus."

Beth really had no choice in the matter, but once Gabriel got back she would make him take her back to the funeral home to look for Daryl. She couldn't leave him, not when he needed her. Daryl was the lone wolf type that was never truly able to live on his own, he thrived when he had someone to protect.

"Mickens, the medic, said that you just wacked your head. It's gonna leave a mark but you don't need stitches." Gabriel assured her. "He told me that once you're awake you can come join the rest of us for something to eat. So how 'bout it? Want to meet the others? I think you'll really like Lorena, she's a little older than you but she's a pistol."

"Lead the way I guess." It's not like she had a choice.

Beth followed Gabriel out of the living quarters into the hall. As they went on Gabriel pointed out the bathrooms, they didn't work so no one used them. Instead they had a make-shift outhouse system in the bathrooms, the bathroom on the left side of the hall was for men while the bathroom on the right was for women. Then there was the large common room at the end of the hall with a fire place and a number of couches. If Beth wasn't so worried about all the people missing in her life she might've found this place comforting. But now she knew better, things like this don't last.

"This was at one point a small monastery but then they converted it into a small retreat house a few decades before I was assigned here. There are fourteen rooms about the same size as your cell and some are a little bigger."

"My cell?" Beth's breath hitched at the reminder of what she'd lost in the past week (or at least the thought it was a week but at this point she honestly had no idea how many days she and Daryl had been on the run).

"Sorry, that's why they call the Spartan dwellings in a monastery…" Gabriel explained.

Beth followed outside into the court yard in silence. There was a group of six men helping arrange bags for a couple and their three young children. The woman had a panicked look on her face while the men said their good byes. Once the family left the men sat down at a picnic table and started eating.

"Boys this is Beth." Gabriel announced to the table. "I wanted to introduce her to Lorena; do you know where she is?"

"Dumb bitch ran off this morning." A completely average looking redneck yelled. "We told her we'd send her with a care package if she waited to say goodbye to you."

"But I thought she was going to stick around for a bit?" Gabriel sounded disappointed.

"So it's just you?" Beth looked around at the six burley men sitting around the table. Something about them sent a shiver down her spine.

"Right now yes, the people that just left were the Chambers; I found them at the funeral home a few weeks back." Gabriel whispered as he and Beth approached the group.

"Where are they going?"

"Mrs. Chambers wants a safe place for the kids, so they're setting off to follow the tracks." A large man with a pleasantly square face a dark hair that was greying at the temples stood next to Gabriel explained. "We gave them enough rations for a week and they know the basics of camping – so we think they'll make it. But if they change their minds they're always welcome to come back. I'm Coop."

Coop went through and introduced all the men sitting at the table. The non-descript redneck was Burt a former coal miner, the Hispanic man next to him was Javi the retired cop, followed by Mickens the EMT, James the former college student, and Carson the plumber.

"Nice to meet you." Beth said politely. Coop's silver eyes checked her out.

They directed Beth to a big pot sitting over an open fire. She spooned what appeared to be piping hot baked beans into her bowl and pretended not to hear the conversation going on at the table.

"So where did you find this here little lost kitten." Coop asked Gabriel.

"One of my safe houses." Gabriel didn't expand on that, leading Beth to believe that he didn't 100% trust this group. "I'm headed back out in a little while to restock a few of the pantries. I was going to do it earlier but I wanted to make sure that our new rescue was awake."

"You gonna take her on you?" Mickens asked.

"I thought she might need some rest… why?" Gabriel asked.

"We were going to take the truck out and look for some supplies tomorrow and hopefully to find Lorena. I don't like the idea of her being off on her own." Coop said. "I can leave Javi and Carson back to baby sit."

"I don't know…" Gabriel said.

"She has a lock on her door." Coop pointed out.

"Fine, I'll wait until she finishes eating."

It was clear to Beth that Coop and his group moved into the church and took over. Not that Gabriel minded because it gave him the ability to go out and rescue people while his home and central base was looked after. Beth couldn't tell if he was doing it out of the kindness of his own heart or because he was running. He was a good man, but Beth didn't think he believed that anymore.

Beth sat down at the table next to Gabriel; Gus lay down at her side. Gus was reassuring; every time one of the men moved or handed something to Beth Gus poked his head up and watched the situation closely. She was starting to like this dog.

"I have to go out and take care of a few things. I'll be back tomorrow." Gabriel explained while Beth finished up her meal. "But I stand by my promise. You rest up until I get back and I'll take you to find your friend."

"You're taking her back out there?" Burt asked. "That's the dumbest goddamn thing I've heard all day. And I had to spend the morning helping the Chambers bitch pack."

"Language." Coop scolded him. "We have a lady present."

"Sorry."

"Why do you want to go back out there?" Coop asked.

"We left someone behind… I need to find them." Beth answered.

"From what Gabe told me, the place was swamped with skin puppets… your friend is most likely gone." Coop explained. "But if you promise to come back here if you don't find your friend, we'll make sure you get out there to look."

"Fair enough." Beth had an uneasy feeling.

"I have to go, are you sure you're going to be alright?" Gabriel asked. "I'd leave Gus if I could but he helps me lure the deadies away if they get too close. I need him with me."

"It's fine," Beth assured him.

Beth walked Gabriel to his car. Javi and Mickens had to manually close the reinforced picket fence behind him.

"Little lady would you like a tour?" Coop asked sweetly.

"Sure." Beth double checked for the hunting knife that was attached to her hip.

It wasn't much of a tour – Gabriel had shown her almost everything on their way out of the retreat building. But Coop took her into the small church, and showed her the two room rectory that Gabriel stayed in. Coop pointed out that since Lorena's room in the rectory was vacant Beth was more than welcome to take it – it had a lock.

Coop left Beth to her new room. Looking around this room was just as sparse as the one she woke up in not too long ago. Her head was pounding something fierce and she was feeling a bit dizzy, all she wanted to do was take a nap. She lay down on the fresh sheets and drifted off. She was quickly brought back to the present when she heard the door open and click shut. Had she forgotten to lock the door?

"Hello?" She asked groggily.

"Hello little lady." Cooper said quietly. "Feeling a little sleepy?"

"What are you doing?" Beth asked.

Coop didn't answer; he just swooped in for a sloppy kiss. She tried to push him away but he was too big for her small frame to compete with. All of her protests just seemed to get him more excited as he forced himself on her. His hands were everywhere, whispering vile things while violating every inch of her body before he shoved her pants down and bent her over the bed. Tears of anger flowed down her cheeks as he took the last remnant of her old life… the one thing that she promised herself she'd save for the man she intended to spend the rest of her life with. She closed her eyes and was about to give up.

"Fight back Bethy, don't give up." Maggie's voice sounded in the back of her head.

That was the push she needed. Beth cleared her head, pulled her arm forward and brought her elbow back with great force as it connected with Coop's stomach. She could hear the air rush out of his lungs when he staggered back. Anger flashed in his eyes and hand closed around Beth's throat. He squeezed until the world faded.

Beth's head protested as she came to in a dark and dingy room. Her hands were bound in front of her with a thick rough piece of rope that was tethered to a support beam nearby. She was going to have more brain damage than a walker if people kept knocking her out this way.

"Hello?" A weak voice called from a few feet away.

Straining her eyes to focus on a nearby shape, Beth could make out a young Hispanic girl that looked about Maggie's age. She was tied up much like Maggie but she looked like she'd been through a tough time already.

"Lorena?" Beth croaked.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

"Gabriel was telling me about you. He was really upset when they told him you left."

"I didn't leave. Those assholes took me down here soon after he left." She spat.

"He didn't know."

"How do you know?"

"Because he was genuinely upset when he thought you left without saying goodbye."

Their conversation was cut short by footsteps creaking down the stairs. Three of their captors appeared in front of them.

"I see you two have gotten acquainted." Coop said smugly. "Now it's time for some fun."

Beth was spared this time but they made her watch as they had their way with Lorena. She was too broken to fight back, all she did was lay there and cry while the men laughed and had their fun. After they were finished they left the poor girl crumpled in a pile sobbing.

Beth knew now not to make noises. She made the mistake of calling for Gabriel when she thought she heard his voice upstairs. As her punishment she was forced to watch the men rough Lorena up, leaving the poor girl with a black eye and split lip before Javi decided to take his turn with Beth.

When he left Beth sat with her back to the damp wall and pulled her knees to her chest. She wondered if this was anything like how Maggie felt when she came back from Woodberry. If she had to submit in order to keep Lorena from getting hurt she would reluctantly do it.

"You can't give up now." Daryl scolded her for even thinking about it. "It's not just your life at risk."

"But…" Beth whispered to the voice in her head.

"No buts princess, you can't turn into that." Daryl alluded to the broken girl curled up in the corner. "For her sake and yours."

Any other time she'd think she was going crazy, but she knew that this voice egging her on was her only choice. She couldn't let the darkness get her, and she couldn't wait for Gabriel to come back – because it would be too late.

Beth listened carefully for any signs of movement upstairs, she heard not footsteps above or on the stairs. This was her only chance to sit and hatch a plan. After Javi was finished with her, he tied her hands together but he didn't secure her to the wall again. She looked around the basement for something to stand on. Lorena watched through swollen eyes as Beth found a small plastic toy chest under a bunch of crap under the basement steps. The ropes chafed Beth's wrists as she dug out the box and dragged it under the cellar window.

"Can you keep watch?" Beth asked Lorena.

"Do you really think this will work?" Lorena sounded defeated.

"It's our only chance." Beth admitted. "If they catch me, just pretend to be unconscious."

Lorena nodded, she knew well that if they were discovered she'd get another beating – whether she was unconscious during Beth's escape attempt or not. But she also knew that this was their only hope.

Beth said a little prayer before she got up on the box, praying that her weight would hold, that they'd make a getaway, and that she'd find Maggie or Daryl. She was going to need her sister when all this was over. Beth hopped up, leaning her bound hands against the wall to steady herself. Beth lifted herself to the balls of her feet to get a closer look at the planks that were nailed in front of the small window. There were only two planks with one nail on each end, and they didn't look secure. Like they were pounded in with a make shift hammer.

Beth closed her eyes and thought of what she could use to pry the nails out. Her foot twinged with a ghost of pain, she thought of the day her heel got stuck in the trap. Then a light went on in her head… the knives that Daryl tucked in her boot were still there, she'd completely forgotten about them and Coop never searched her for more than the hunting knife. They were thin and sharp but if she wedged it back there enough to get her fingers behind the board she could pull it off herself.

She prayed while she worked, hoping that God saw it fit for her to get out of that dank dungeon and make sure that these men didn't hurt anyone else. The knives were sharp and thin but she managed to use one to work enough space behind the board so she could pry it off with her hands. She managed to get both boards off before anyone noticed. She sized up the window, Lorena was almost as thin as Beth was and even in her frail state she could wiggle through the window. Just as Beth was about to open the window she noticed Burt walking towards the building, there was no doubt where he was headed and why. Lorena gave her a panicked look when Beth carefully slid the boards back into place.

Heavy boots thumped across the floor above them, Beth managed to jump off the toy box and curl up in the spot where the men left her. Burt leered at the two girls slumped in defeat trying to pick which one he was going to have his way with. He smiled and headed over to Lorena, that was when Beth noticed Burt was wearing her belt, gun, and hunting knife.

"She had a busy day… let her rest." Beth pushed aside the adrenalin that surged through her and tried to sound meek and innocent.

"I knew you wanted me little lady." He shot a vile smile at Beth that made her feel ill.

"Please just leave her be." Beth begged.

"Beth you don't have to –" Lorena said meekly as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Shut up bitch. You'll get your turn."

Beth tried not to cry when Burt came over and pulled her into a sloppy kiss. He really was a repulsive human being. The kiss deepened and Lorena stared on in horror as Beth let Burt's hand roam freely over her body.

"If you promise to be a good little lady I'll take the ties off." Burt said. "But if you try to double cross I'll kill you. There's always another girl to take your place."

"Yes sir."

Once her hands were unbound Beth knew exactly what she had to do, she didn't like it but it was her only option. She pulled him back in for a kiss, doing everything she could think of to keep him distracted. In his eagerness he managed to rip open the front of Beth's stained polo shirt. She reached for his belt, taking her time as she unbuckled it. Before she could grab the knife he tossed the belt aside along with Beth's ripped top.

She slipped her hand into her boot and pulled out one of the throwing knives. Once Burt was distracted trying to unclasp Beth's bra she slipped the small knife between his ribs and deep into his heart. He took a step back, shock and horror spread across his face. Beth was covered in the same scarlet blood that poured from Burt's mouth, he couldn't manage a scream. Beth's mind went blank for a few seconds; she couldn't process the fact that she just killed a man.

"We all have jobs to do." Maggie's voice reminded her. "Do you job then you can deal with this later."

"Beth we have to go." Lorena brought her back to the present.

Beth wrapped herself in the remnants of her shredded polo and secured the belt around her waist. Beth waited until Burt fell to the ground and stopped moving before she took the hunting knife and plunged it into his ear. If they were going to make an escape, the last thing they needed was a walker locked in the room with them.

She was careful not to nick Lorena's thin and chafed wrists as she freed them from their bindings. They huddled together and hobbled over to the toy box. Beth hopped up and pulled the boards free, it took a little bit of doing for the girls to pry the window open but it wasn't long before they slid through the small opening and hid in the shadow of the building.

"Padre, I thought you wouldn't be back for a couple days." Coop sounded a little nervous.

"Oil was running low, I thought I'd come back and fill her up." Gabriel explained. "How's Beth?"

"Well, about that…." Coop crossed his arms and feigned hesitation while trying to formulate a lie. "She said she wanted to take a nap but when I went to see if she needed anything she was gone."

"You're telling me ANOTHER girl ran off?" Gabriel's voice bellowed from a few feet away. "What did you do to her?"

"We didn't do nothing preacher-man. That little lady went crazy, saying something about needing to find her friend. I left her in Lorena's room and she wasn't there the next time I went to check on her." Coop lied.

"Bull shit." Gabriel spat.

"You don't trust us?" Coop feigned innocence. "Who was the one that locked us out and left us for dead only for us to turn around and save him a little while later? YOU OWE US, we don't owe you!"

Coop stormed off into the retreat building. Peaking around the corner, Beth could see the pastor leaning against the hood of his car with Gus at his side. Gabriel knew that something was up and he just couldn't put his finger on what. Getting to Gabriel was their only hope, he had a car and he knew of some safe houses that these disgusting creatures didn't. Beth took a breath and grabbed Lorena's hand leading them from the shadows into the light near Gabriel.

"What the hell!" he all but yelled.

"Listen, we need to get out of here." Beth said in a panic.

"Oh my God Lorena, what the hell happened to you?" His eyes grew wide with surprised, then narrowed with a cold rage.

"We don't have time, we need go. NOW!"

"STUPID BITCHES!" Coop bellowed.

Coop and Javi exploded from the front door and pointed their guns at the escaping hostages. Before Coop could crack off a shot Gus latched onto his arm. The gun fired and grazed Beth's left cheek and hit the front grill of Gabriel's car with a hiss. Beth pulled the gun from her holster and without hesitation put a bullet into Coop's left shoulder. The impact of the bullet sent Coop crumbling to the ground howling in pain.

Beth ran for the car but Javi caught her around the waist and held the gun to her head. Gabriel stopped dead in his tracks as he closed the car door behind Lorena. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Drop the gun." Javi murmured in her ear.

Beth complied, dropping her gun and kicked it a few feet away. Out of the corner of her eye Beth could make figures emerging from the woods and pressing themselves against the wooden fence, they weren't human. It wouldn't be long before they busted the fence, it was already starting to bend with the pressure. All the gunshots and screaming clearly attracted unwanted attention, it wouldn't be long before more showed up.

"He made you give up your gun but check your hip." Daryl's voice reminded her.

Beth slowly reached for her belt while Javi was distracted by the noise at the fence. Gabriel's eyes grew wide when Beth unsheathed the hunting knife. Beth used all her force to bring her elbow back to connect with the soft fleshy part of Javi's abdomen, much like she had done to Coop earlier. She didn't have enough force to knock him over but his shock loosened his grip enough for Beth to spin around and burry her knife into his ear. Beth felt nauseous when the light in Javi's eyes dimmed and he crumpled to the ground.

The rest of Coop's men were yelling profanities and running towards them but the thing that worried Beth the most was the increasing volume of walker moans.

"We need to go!" Beth screamed.

"Get in the car!" Gabriel yelled, practically dragging Lorena into the car.

Beth hopped into the back with Gus. Gabriel flipped on the engine, it sputtered a few times before the ignition caught. He threw the car into drive and sped off of the property.


	3. Tracker

"Do you want to tell me what the hell just happened?" Gabriel yelled.

He received no answer. Both women looked blankly ahead visibly trying to bite back sobs. Gabriel looked over the two women. They were pretty roughed up and Beth's shirt was sliced open. Gabriel knew the basics of what they'd been subjected to and bowed his head in disgust and silent defeat. Gus scooted closer to Beth laying his head in her lap, she held her shirt closed with one hand while she mindlessly pet Gus with the other.

"I'm sorry, I should've known." He chastised himself. "I'm sorry I separated you from your friend. Let's go back to the funeral home, even if Coop and his guys are still alive they don't know it's location. Plus we'll need at least a days rest before we can think about finding your friend."

Beth could see the embarrassment and shame that plagued Gabriel. He was clueless that he was being manipulated by that group of monsters; he thought he was doing well and it backfired on him. Then there was Lorena, she looked like a ghost of her former self… or at least the former self that Gabriel had told her about. The fire and life had gone out of her eyes, looking in the rear view mirror she could see the light in her eyes threatened to go out too.

Well all have jobs to do… we don't get to be upset. She reminded herself. Get your stuff together Beth Greene, these people need you.

When they pulled into the driveway, Beth told Gabriel and Lorena to stay in the car while she checked it out. There were a few stragglers but she systematically snuck up behind each walker and shoved the hunting knife through the back of their skull like she'd seen Daryl and Maggie do so many times.

Beth made her way around the back of the house to check for any walkers or vulnerable spots. The coast was clear; no walker in sight except for the one she took down the night before. Her bag lay on the ground untouched. She scooped it up and continued to clear the house. She killed four before she made it to the front door. The tin can alert system Daryl and rigged was still standing firm on the borders of the porch.

Inside dead walkers were strewn everywhere, some even had Daryl's broken bolts sticking out of their eye sockets. She searched every face, praying that she wouldn't find anyone she knew. There were only a few walkers that were still hissing, but she made short work of them before checking the doors and windows. Everything was locked up tight. She waved the Gabriel and Lorena in and started piling the corpses on the porch, hoping that the smell would stay outside to ward off any unwanted guests.

Beth and Lorena sat at the table waiting for Gabriel to come back with the first aid kit.

"Who made these?" Gabriel held up one of the arrows Daryl taught Beth to make.

"I did." Beth said shyly. "Well Daryl and I did."

"Daryl, who's he?" Lorena asked hollowly.

How could Beth put Daryl into words? He was grumpy and sometimes mean but he was fiercely loyal with a big heart. He used his hardened exterior as a shell to protect him from the world finding out that he did care… he cared a little too much.

"We traveled together." That was the easiest way to explain it.

"Like together together?" Lorena pried with a sly smile.

"It's not like that…"

"Then how is it?"

"We lived in a prison with a large group for a while. Then some very bad man decided he wanted to take it over. I watched him kill my daddy." Beth blinked back the tears; it had been days since she thought about him… her daddy was the only one that was truly looking out for her all this time. Now he was gone, and so was everyone else. She had to find them, someone had to be alive.

"Daryl and I got separated from the rest of the group. He's saved me so many times since then."

"How long ago was this?" Gabriel asked from the doorway. Beth hadn't seen him appear.

"I think a week ago."

"Jesus." Lorena whispered.

"If I start crying, I don't think I'll stop." Beth stared at the table. "He left the bolts, and what little we had to come chasing after me, I have to find him. I know you don't understand but he's all I have left."

"I'm sorry." Gabriel murmured as he patched up her cheek. "I thought he was one of the hicks that ambushed our group on their last supply trip. I didn't get a good look at em but he looked like one of em."

"I think we should look for him. Or at least look for him on our way to that safety zone. Will you take us to the last place you saw him when he was chasing the car? If I don't pick up any sign of him I promise I'll go with you to the safety zone." Beth rationalized. "It'll be two days by first light, and it hasn't rained. If I can't pick up his tracks in the morning then I'm not likely to at all."

"Fine." Gabriel agreed reluctantly. "Now eat something and we'll call it a night."

Gabriel laid out three pig's feet and three jars of baby food. Beth's eyes misted over as she looked at the smiling baby on the front of the jar. Her thoughts went to how she failed Judith, she couldn't keep her safe.

When Beth finished her meal she snuck upstairs to the room that Daryl found the spare clothes. There had to be something left in that closet, because anything was better than what he had. Unfortunately the only thing left was Daryl's discarded flannel button down with the sleeves cut off. Beth was too tired to be disgusted with the fact that she was putting on Daryl's dirty shirt, anything was better than the shredded and bloody polo she currently donned. She thought that the sight of her bra was making Gabriel a little uncomfortable.

In this new world everyone smelled, no one really had the time or means for a shower. Beth noted as she buttoned up the old shirt that it smelled distinctly Daryl, sweaty and musty with the hint of the outdoors. It wasn't a bad smell; it was oddly comforting for Beth.

Gus lay by the front door keeping watch, any sign of movement and he was ready to go on full alert. Lorena was asleep on the old vintage couch, twitching and making whimpering sounds. Beth was half tempted to wake her up from her nightmare but Lorena needed as much sleep as she could get. Gabriel knew what Beth was thinking and gave a her a slight nod of agreement before curling up on the floor closest to the door. Beth hopped in to the empty coffin, Daryl was right… this was more comfortable than any bed she'd had since the farm.

Beth woke up a number of times that night, expecting to be back in that dark pit with her captors. She felt like she had just closed her eyes when the sun started peeking through the slats over the window. The little blonde sat up in her makeshift bed to see her new companions staring at her queerly.

"What? No one was using it." Beth smiled when she thought of her argument with Daryl.

Lorena just shrugged.

"Are you okay to travel?" Gabriel asked. He wasn't going to tell the girls what he heard them say in their sleep. He was going to need therapy sessions just thinking about it.

"I'm fine; I just needed a good night's rest." Beth answered. "Let me round up some stuff, and then we can get going."

Beth pulled the case off the small satin pillow she slept on, and stole another from the coffin in the viewing room next door. She scurried into the kitchen, gathered up all the bolts and shoved them in the pillowcase, securing it to her backpack. She grabbed bottles of water and whatever food she could fit in the case until the second bag was overflowing.

"Okay, let's go." Beth smiled, genuinely excited to move forward and find any one of the few people she had left in this world.

They piled back into the car and drove for a while until they reached a fork in the road. The car came sputtering to a stop and the hood started smoking. Beth didn't know cars very well but she knew this wasn't a good sign.

"Son of a bitch!" Gabriel slammed his hand on the steering wheel startling Gus.

The three got out of the car, Lorena took watch on one side of the car while Beth took the other. Gabriel grumbled as he looked under the hood. Beth noticed some dry blood on the ground with something sticking out of it. Curiosity got the best of her and she wondered over to the spot to get a closer look.

Sticking out of the dry blood was a white feather, not just any white feather either. It was a piece of fletching from one of Daryl's bolts. Carefully Beth yanked the feather out of the dry blood and walked over to Gabriel.

"Car's ruined. We're going to have to follow the tracks on foot." He told the girls.

"Look what I found." Beth beamed as she held up the white feather.

"It's a bloody feather." Gabriel replied flatly.

"No, it's a piece of fletching."

"What?" Lorena tried to sound interested.

"It's the feather at the end of arrows or crossbow bolts." Beth explained. "I just made a ton of these, this one belongs to Daryl."

"It's a feather."

Rolling her eyes, Beth pulled a new bolt out of the satin pillow case. She held the bloody fletching up to one of the homemade ones for her companions to make the comparison.

"This just means he was here." Gabriel stated.

"And probably followed the tracks." Lorena smiled weakly. "Maybe he's headed where we want to go!"

Beth walked over to the train tracks; there were a relatively fresh set of boot prints, prints that she spent hours memorizing in the woods. She also noticed a half dozen unfamiliar foot prints but this was their best lead.

"I think I can track him." Beth stated confidently.

"Then we'll go too." Gabriel agreed. "I got you separated and well… worse. The best I can do is help you find your people."

Beth hoisted her backpack high on her shoulders and crouched down like she was taught and took the lead. Checking for signs of foot prints, displaced rocks, disrupted dirt, or any sort of indication telling her where Daryl was going. They followed the tracks for hours, every now and then Daryl's voice would perk up in Beth's head reminding her of the things she learned.

The sun was starting to dip in the afternoon sky, from what Beth could gather it was about three in the afternoon and Lorena was in desperate need of a rest. Lorena hadn't said a word since they left the car and she was falling increasingly farther behind. Beth was too but she was too fixated on her job at hand to acknowledge her fatigue.

"There's a few displaced rocks over there… what does that mean?" Daryl asked in Beth's head.

"It means they went that way… but why?" Beth whispered to herself.

"Why would anyone get away from the open tracks?" Daryl asked.

"There's no sign of a struggle or running… so it wasn't walkers." Beth theorized. "Shelter, they needed shelter for the night."

"Who's they?" Gabriel looked at her with concern; clearly she'd been talking to herself louder than she thought.

"Whoever is with Daryl. They got off the tracks, which means there's shelter nearby." Beth explained. "It's not a good idea to be out in the open or travel in the dark. It makes you too susceptible to the walkers. Daryl would've known that – so they would've found a place to hole up for the night."

"We have a few hours of daylight left." Gabriel protested.

"But then we run the risk of being out in the open after dark." Beth countered. "Not to mention their tracks are heading in a different direction."

"Let's rest for a little while and continue on." Lorena stated.

They sat long enough to share a jar of baby food and drink some water before continuing on. There were no sign of Daryl's foot prints, Beth had to fight every urge to go back and look for him. They needed to continue on, Lorena wasn't looking well.

The three travelers stopped in their tracks when they saw a sign reading "Terminus, those who arrive survive". With a map of the local area showing that all the train tracks lead to the stared safe haven. Beth remembered the dying man who warned her and Daryl to stick to the tracks. This is what he must've meant.

"We should go." Gabriel said as he examined the sign. "There have to be at least a few people from the church that made it there."

"Please, I can't take much more of this." Lorena agreed with him.

"I guess that's our only option at this point." Beth reluctantly agreed. Maybe some of her people were there too.

Lorena stopped dead in her tracks, her face paled when a walker came into view. It was laying on the tracks unable to get up. Beth swiftly ran up behind it and sunk her hunting knife deep into the walker's skull. Her companions looked at her uncomfortably while Beth wiped the knife off on her pants. She was getting increasingly more confident and possibly reckless when it came to dispatching walkers.

The sun was dipping low in the sky, they only had a few more hours of visibility. Beth noticed four sets of foot prints, two large and two small size. Something about them peaked her interest.

"You two stay here; I'm going to scout for some place off the main path to rest." Beth said. "I'll be back in five minutes, just stay here and stay quiet."

"We should stay together." Gabriel protested.

"It's going to get dark soon and we need to find some place safe to stay until morning." Beth countered.

Lorena and Gabriel nodded; Beth knew that without a good rest Lorena wouldn't be able to continue on at this pace for much longer.

"What do you see?" Daryl asked.

"Four foot prints. Two big two small."

The only response was one of the typical "go on" grunts that Daryl was famous for.

"That means two adults and two children. The one small set of foot prints steps harder on the right side than the left, the prints are deeper. I noticed that on one of the adults but it stopped once this started."

"Mhmm…"

"They're carrying something and switching off. Something heavy…" Then it dawned on Beth. "A baby."

She prayed with all her heart and soul that God would grant her this one thing… please let it be Judith.

That's when she spotted it, a small cottage in an open grove surrounded by a barbed wire fence and peach trees. It looked as though the previous occupants had left there in a hurry because part of the gate was knocked down. Beth quietly approached the cottage and surveyed the area, the gate was a quick fix, and she just had to stand it upright. There was no sign of any walkers on the premises, just a few dead ones outside the fence. A few of which looked burnt, Beth wondered how that happened.

Beth ran all the way back to Gabriel and Lorena, luckily Lorena was rested up enough to take the ten minute walk to the little cabin. Gabriel snaked his arm around Lorena's waist, Lorena stiffed at the contact but after a few breaths softened her stance. Lorena allowed the pastor to help her walk while Beth kept look out. They were almost at their destination when Beth noticed something in the bushes, a small pink sock. Not just any small pink sock, the small pink sock she put on baby Judith the day the prison fell. She shoved it in her pocked and beamed all the way to the cottage.

Beth left her companions outside while she went in to do a clean sweep. There was no sign of walkers. They discovered that there was two great big peach trees, a stash of candied pecans, and a well of fresh water out back. Beth and Gabriel ate their fill of peaches and nuts and drank as much water as they could before the closed up the cabin for the night. Lorena just picked at her food with a heavy look. Beth was really starting to worry about her.

Beth spotted the puzzle on the table but she was too tired to even entertain the idea of working on it. Instead they all retired for the night. Beth, being the smallest, curled up on the sofa with Gus while the other two took both rooms. The only thing she could think to do was sing, it's what her father always told her to do in quiet times like these. She started humming quietly, as they arranged their dwelling for the night. Quiet humming turned into quiet singing. Before she knew it she was singing her daddy's favorite song – When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.

There's a tear in your eye,

And I'm wondering why,

For it never should be there at all.

With such pow'r in your smile,

Sure a stone you'd beguile,

So there's never a teardrop should fall.

When your sweet lilting laughter's

Like some fairy song,

And your eyes twinkle bright as can be;

You should laugh all the while

And all other times smile,

And now, smile a smile for me.

When Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring.

In the lilt of Irish laughter

You can hear the angels sing.

When Irish hearts are happy,

All the world seems bright and gay.

And when Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, they steal your heart away.

For your smile is a part

Of the love in your heart,

And it makes even sunshine more bright.

Like the linnet's sweet song,

Crooning all the day long,

Comes your laughter and light.

For the springtime of life

Is the sweetest of all

There is ne'er a real care or regret;

And while springtime is ours

Throughout all of youth's hours,

Let us smile each chance we get.

When Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring.

In the lilt of Irish laughter

You can hear the angels sing.

When Irish hearts are happy,

All the world seems bright and gay.

And when Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, they steal your heart away.

It summed up her dad perfectly, always holding out hope even when they lost everything. You just had to make a conscious decision to see the light in the world rather than focusing on death and destruction. Now it was her turn, she had to find the others before it was too late.

Gus seemed to like it, he perked his head up and listened intently letting out a little whine of disappointment when the song was over. The house was quiet and with Gus to protect her Beth drifted into an almost dreamless sleep. Only waking up once in a panic.

The next morning Beth woke up to Gus licking her face. Her companions were very quiet and looked at her oddly, understanding the purpose of her song choice the night before. Without speaking they packed as many peaches and pecans as they could and prepared to set out. Beth noticed Lorena grimly sitting on a bench outside.

"What are you up to?" Beth asked sweetly, she noticed that Lorena had gotten more sullen and withdrawn since they arrive in the little grove cottage.

"Sitting here thinking." Lorena breathed.

"About what."

"About who these people were." Lorena pointed to three crosses that adorned the back yard.

Crosses like these always sent shivers down her spine. There were too many in the court yard at the prison. Much like these. There was a knot in Beth's stomach as she got up and walked over to the freshly dug gaves. Two looked fresh and the third had a pair of baby booties hanging off the cross. Looking closely Beth noticed writing on the cross part of the graves. Beth collapsed to her knees when she read the names "Mika" and "Lizzie".

"Beth!" Lorena materialized beside her, crouching down to put and hand on Beth's shoulder. "Did you know these people?"

Beth tried to explain but her throat closed up and sobs racked her body. She couldn't bring herself to look at the third cross. She had failed these children. It was her responsibility to get them on the bus, and who knows what fate they had succumb to.

"Look." Daryl ordered.

"I'm not looking you sick bastard." Beth spat at the voice in her head.

"Damnit girl, what do you see?" The voice barked.

Beth wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at the third grave. The booties were weather worn and nothing she'd put on Judith, but maybe they found some in the house. There was no name on the cross, but whoever dug these graves either couldn't bring themselves to put the little girl's name up or they didn't know her name. Beth reached out and touched the dirt.

"The ground has settled… this one is a lot older than the other two." Beth laughed.

"Mhmmm…"

"It's got to be older than two weeks." Beth continued walking herself through the deduction. "Which means that this was made and filled before we left the prison. Judy could still be out there…"

The thought left her numb. She mourned for Mika and Lizzie but she felt a great relief wash over her at the thought that Judith could still be alive. Beth looked at the girl crouching next to her, Lorena looked at her with fear and confusion. She didn't understand the internal conflict that Beth just went through.

"When we left the prison, I got separated from everyone when I went back to find the children but they were gone. Daryl and I found pieces of two of the children before we got separated. Two more are buried here. That leaves just the baby, and if she's still alive God only knows who she's with." Beth explained.

"Ready to go?" Gabriel asked quietly from a few feet away.

Lorena nodded and helped Beth to her feet. The trio picked up their bags and set out following the two pair of foot prints leading out of the grove.

* * *

**Beth has to make the conscious decision not to fall back into the darkness. Beth and Lorena are going through very similar internal struggles but I wanted to show both sides of it - Beth opting to trek on while Lorena is having trouble moving on.**

**I added the song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" as a nod to Hershel's Irish roots, his optimism, and Beth knowing that sometimes a thing as simple as a song can lift the moral of the people around you. I chose that song because it was the happiest I could think of. I was going to use a different one but I thought it would have a better place in a later chapter.**

**In my mind Beth, Lorena, and Gabriel aren't too far behind a few other group members... hopefully they'll meet up soon. And they haven't come across one of Maggie's signs yes, so that revelation should be interesting!**


	4. Signs

The prints led them back to the railroad tracks they'd been following the night before. These foot prints seemed deep and fresh, about a day or so old.

"That's disgusting." Lorena squealed.

"What is?"

Beth followed the girl's gaze to a sign written in blood, it was too dark to be human blood. Written on the wall near another Terminus sign was "Glenn go to Terminus – Maggie". Beth beamed at the thought of her sister being alive, they were on her trail. Maybe Maggie had made it out with Judith and the girls!

They continued down the tracks while Lorena commented on how resourceful yet disgusting it was to write a message in walker blood.

"That was my sister." Beth said with a smile.

"Who's Glenn?" Lorena asked.

"He's Maggie's husband."

"Why'd she leave a message for her husband and not her sister?" Lorena asked sincerely.

The wording of the message had bothered Beth too. Why had Maggie addressed anyone at all? She could've said "Beth and Glenn go to Terminus – Maggie" or even "Maggie Greene went to Terminus". Beth tried to deny it a number of times in the past year or so, but ever since Glenn came into the picture Maggie had grown more and more distant, only being there for Beth when it was convenient for her. Beth didn't want to complain because she knew that Maggie was busy going out on runs, killing walkers, saving people, and sneaking off with Glenn but there were times when she needed her sister. Beth didn't hate Glenn, in fact she loved him as much as she loved her brother Shaun.

Her heart sank when she realized that Maggie had truly given up on her. Beth knew everyone thought she was weak but she thought that her sister of all people would never give up on her. No, even on death's doorstep Glenn was more of a survivor than Beth. That thought got her Irish ire up, Daddy always said you don't mess Irish tempers.

"She thinks I'm dead." Beth said to no one in particular.

"Why?" Gabriel looked confused.

"She's the strong one; she doesn't think I can survive on my own." Beth thought out loud. "She gave up on me."

They stood in silence looking at another

"Beth… I said did you hear that?" Gabriel whispered. "I hear arguing over that way."

Sure enough there were hushed voices traveling through the thick wooded area to the right of the tracks. Beth motioned for her companions to follow her silently into the tree line to investigate the noise. A few feet into the woods the trees thinned and the groans of walkers grew louder. Beth's hand slipped to her belt and pulled out her hunting knife.

"Stay close and keep your eyes open." She warned her companions.

A little ways ahead she could see a eight walkers encroaching on their prey. She picked up two thick branches and handed them to Lorena and Gabriel.

"Aim for the brain. The eye socket, the ear canal, or up through the chin." Beth instructed. "And you know by now not to get bit."

Lorena let out a whimper as she took the branch.

"Don't worry, I'll go first. You guys cover me." Beth assured her.

"I'm bigger, I should go first." Gabriel protested.

"No, you need to look after Lorena." Beth ordered. "Now we have to be as silent as possible."

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Beth moved toward the walkers. It looked like two men, one black and one white. From the sounds of it their prey was trying to make a plan of defense. Thinking quickly, Beth picked up a small rock and threw it a few yards away from the two men. Two of the walkers were drawn towards the noise, Beth waited for them to get a little distance away from the others before she moved in.

She motioned for her companions to stay put before she crouched behind a tree, not taking her eyes off of the walkers. She felt the familiar surge of adrenalin that came with killing walkers. She slowly crept up behind the first walker and shoved her knife into his ear canal like she told her companions to do. The second one turned and moved towards Beth while she pried her knife from the first walker's skull. The creature managed to wrap it's cold boney hand around Beth's wrist, she stared into his dead eyes and all she could see were the men that held her captive. She summoned all her pent up rage, wrenched her knife free, and buried it deep into the second walker's eyesocket.

Wiping the walker goo on her pants she lunged forward to help take out the remaining half dozen walkers. The burly black man stood in a protective stance in front of the other guy, who was clutching onto a bag for dear life. She could see the man's large hammer connect with a walker's head, bashing in the side of its face with one swipe.

The remaining walkers pressed in closer. Beth took one out and whirled around in time to see Lorena bash one in the face that was inches from getting Beth. Gabriel was on the other side of the man trying his best to take out walkers with his tree branch.

Beth was alerted by Lorena's screams, she was pinned to the ground underneath a large walker. Beth pushed down the panic and ran to the girl's aid. Lorena was about to give up, Beth could see it in her eyes. She wouldn't let that happen, kicking the walker in the side of the face and plunging her knife up through the base of his skull.

"You okay?" Beth asked.

"I'm fine." Lorena dismissed her.

The girls worked Lorena free from the corpse and rejoined the two men finishing off the stragglers.

Beth stood before the man blood spattered and exhausted. He whirled around with his hammer to the ready, poised to strike at her if she made a sudden movement. His eyes went wide with recognition and he slowly lowered his hammer and pulled Beth into a crushing hug.

"Tyreese?" Beth breathed.

She fell to her knees when she realized the person standing behind him wasn't a man – it was Carol in dirty oversized men's clothes and work boots. At the sound of Beth's voice the little bag in Carol's arms squirmed and cooed.

"Beth?" Carol sighed with relief.

"You know these people?" Gabriel asked from behind her.

"Gabriel, Lorena, these are three members of my group. This is Tyreese, Carol…" Beth sheathed her knife and reached out hesitantly and took the baby from Carol. "and this is Judith."

Judith grabbed a fist full of Beth's hair and cuddled into her neck like she'd done so many times before. Beth melted at the sight of Judith's cherubic face. Tears ran down Beth's face and she leaned in to smell the innocent scent of the baby's head.

"Looks like somebody is happy to see you." Carol smiled. "I'm so glad you made it out."

"I wouldn't have if it weren't for Daryl." Beth admitted.

Carol's mouth quirked when she noticed Beth was wearing Daryl's old shirt. Beth blushed at the thoughts that must be going through Carol's head. Carol looked around for Daryl and her smile slowly fell from her face.

"Is he…?" she couldn't bring herself to finish the question.

"I don't know. We got separated." Beth sighed. "I went back to look for him but he was just gone. I've been trying to track him ever since."

Carol nodded in understanding, Beth and Gabriel were glad that she didn't ask them to elaborate. Even if she wanted to, Beth didn't know if she'd be able to put into words what happened – how he never stopped saving her and how much she missed him.

"I need to find him." Beth didn't mean to say it but she did. "He needs me."

"We're going to Terminus, maybe the others are there." Tyreese added hopefully.

"Have you seen the signs?" Beth asked.

"Not for a while, why?" Tyreese asked.

"Maggie, Sasha, and Bob left a note for Glenn in walker blood on a couple signs to meet them there."

Tyreese's head perked up at the sound of Sasha's name. Beth smiled at the little glimmer of hope that was sparking behind his eyes.

"So I guess we're all headed the same direction." Carol said with a smile.

They walked on the rest of the day and made camp just off the beaten path when night fell. Since being reunited with Beth, Judith wouldn't allow anyone else to hold her. It was sweet but by the end of the day Beth's arms were exhausted.

Once the little girl was asleep, Beth handed her off to Carol and dug a little fire pit like Daryl taught her. Two small holes at the same depth connected by a short tunnel, it kept the light of the fire low with proper ventilation.

"Where'd you learn that?" Carol asked as she passed back the baby.

"Daryl."

"So how'd you meet these two?" Tyreese decided to change the subject.

"The place Daryl and I were staying got overrun; I cracked by head pretty good trying to take out a walker. Gabriel saved me and took me back to his church." Beth explained. "We couldn't stay there either."

"Why not?"

"It was overrun too." Beth said quietly to the fire.

"Judging by the state of your face I'm going to say it wasn't walkers." Carol added quietly.

The lack of answer confirmed her suspicions.

They walked on quietly following the tracks. Beth hummed quietly carrying Judith with Gus on her heels, Carol and Tyreese flanked her sides with Lorena and Gabriel trailing not too far behind. As the sun sunk lower into the tree line a quick glare flicked off the window of a building just peaking over the tree top.

"There's a building over there." Beth pointed out to Carol.

"What do you think?" Carol asked Tyreese.

"It's pretty far out of our way." Tyreese argued.

"We need to take a rest, and we can't have Judith out here after dark. She's too vulnerable." Carol countered.

"Lorena is in no shape to continue on all night either." Beth noted.

"Fine but we move out at first light." Tyreese agreed.

"We're going to head off the tracks to find shelter for the night." Beth turned to explain to Lorena and Gabriel. "We should be able to make it to the building with enough time to sweep it before sundown."

They left the tracks and weaved through the thick woods until a large red brick building came into view. It was three stories, and had heavy metal doors. The parking lot was littered with walker corpses, who knew how old they were. Beth smiled weakly when they passed an old abandoned ice cream truck. Beth shifted Judith from hip to hip as they entered the building.

It didn't take long to secure the area, there seemed to be no walkers in sight, just the ones decomposing in the parking lot. The first floor had no windows so they barricaded the doors and crept up to the top floor. The top floor was an open space with no walls – it looked like an unfinished construction site. A whole window was missing from the frame but Beth was silently thankful for the cool breeze that fluttered through the stuffy building. Written in the same red lettering was a note similar to the last few they encountered, "Glenn and Ty go to Terminus, Maggie, Sasha, and Bob". Tears pricked Beth's eyes as she took it in.

Beth cradled Judith in her lap, Gus was comfortably sprawled to her right and Carol sat to her left. Beth looked around to see Lorena curled up in a corner with Gabriel sitting a few feet away and Tyreese stood at the open window to take first watch. Beth pulled out a jar of baby food, it looked like carrots but with the lack of light she couldn't read the label. All she knew is that she was thankful for the odd assortment of food in the pantry at the funeral home.

"Where'd you find that?" Carol asked when she saw Beth feeding Judith.

"From the place Daryl and I stayed." Beth answered quietly. "Did you get out with anyone else?"

"I found Tyreese with Judith about a day after the prison fell." Carol managed to say. "Lizzie and Mika too."

"I saw their graves."

Beth could hear the hitch in Carol's breath, she didn't dare press the matter.

"So how did you meet up with Beth?" Tyreese asked Gabriel.

"I have a habit of rescuing strays." Gabriel chuckled darkly. "I thought I was rescuing her, and I took her back to my church. I shouldn't have left to go find more survivors… then they wouldn't have… I'm so sorry Beth."

Beth shifted uncomfortably as Carol and Tyreese tried to read between the lines.

"You didn't know what kind of people they were, it's not your fault." Beth tried to reassure him.

Lorena's face went blank and she quietly rocked back and forth, Beth was getting really worried about her. Is this how Beth should be reacting to their traumatic ordeal? Was something wrong with her? She pushed those thoughts aside to change the subject. Lorena was shutting down and Carol and Tyreese had enough to worry about; they didn't need to know every disturbing detail of the basement ordeal.

"Should we go to Terminus?" Beth interrupted.

"I don't know…" Tyreese said pensively. "We could stay here a while."

"It's going to get cold soon and there's very little food left for Judith. Based on the maps I've seen we have just about enough formula for us to make it to Terminus." Carol stated.

"Not to mention Sasha, Maggie, and Bob have been leaving you and Glenn notes all along the tracks." Beth pointed out. "It might be our best chance to regroup."

"How far away do you think we are?" Gabriel inquired.

"About a day and a half or two days out." Carol guessed.

"Okay then, we rest up tonight and head out in the morning." Tyreese agreed.

She could feel sweaty hands groping at her, bending her forward over a table. His mouth was so close to her ear she could feel his breath on her jaw. Coop's harsh voice whispered disgusting things in her ear while he invaded her. He took her over and over again, each time more painful than the one before.

"Stop please!" Beth begged, but he didn't listen. "No please!"

"Beth!" A familiar voice called through the darkness. "Beth honey wake up."

Beth's eyes popped opened to see Carol kneeling in front of her, Gabriel and Tyreese stood against the wall staring at her with pained expressions. It was just a dream, she was safe now… well as safe as she could be on the run from flesh eating monsters. But she'd take that over Coop and his crew any day. Seeing Lorena sitting mere feet away staring blankly into space, Beth knew she had to pull it together. She wasn't ready to talk about what she'd been through yet but she couldn't let it eat away at her. She had a job to do.

"You okay?" Carol asked.

"For now I am." Beth answered honestly.

"I won't pry… but you need to talk to someone." Carol stated.

"Where's Judith?" Beth panicked when she realized the toddler wasn't lying next to her.

"Looks like your job has been taken." Tyreese smiled weakly, pointing a few feet away.

Following the direction of Tyreese's finger, Beth could see Gus curled up around Judith. He was letting her use him as a pillow and the two were fast asleep.

"I think this is the longest she's slept in days." Carol smiled. "I'm almost sad to break it up but we need to keep going."

Beth got to her feet and looked out the window to survey the area. She could see just over the tree line to the clearing around the tracks, but running parallel to the tracks was a small road leading out of town. Her mind went to the maps located along the railway, if she read the correctly this road should travel parallel to the tracks for at least another day.

"What do you think, should we take the road a ways or stick to the tracks?" Tyreese asked Carol.

"I think we should stick to the tracks." Carol stated.

"We can walk til about dark and cut off the tracks and make a camp near the road. There has to be some abandoned services stations." Beth offered.

"No, I think we should just stick to the tracks and travel on until we get there." Carol brushed Beth's idea aside.

"Back to the tracks it is." Tyreese decided.

Carol dismissed Beth's opinion much like an adult dismissing a child. Beth's blood boiled, she wasn't a child… not anymore.


	5. Family

The trek back to the train tracks was quiet and only a couple walkers appeared once they started on the trail to Terminus. Along the way Beth resumed her former duties looking after Judith. She didn't mind, actually she loved Judith more than anything, but Carol and Tyreese went back to treating her like they did in the prison, like she was a child. Any time they heard rustling in the bushes or stopped to take a rest the duo would recruit Gabriel to help keep guard leaving Beth to care for Judith and Lorena. Beth couldn't wait to reach their destination so she could sit down and talk Lorena out of her own head; the girl hadn't spoken a word in at least a day and was becoming increasingly despondent. Beth was worried.

They walked at a fast clip, faster than they should've. By early afternoon Lorena looked exhausted, Beth's arms were sore from carrying Judith, and even poor Gus was panting. A wide grin broke across Beth's face when she noticed a familiar set of boot prints to the left of the tracks. She crouched down to examine them, the clay like mud was still damp, they couldn't be too old.

"We need to move off the rails and get some rest." Beth looked up.

"No, we're making good time." Carol stared at the young girl suspiciously; she tried to hide the fact that she was losing steam as well.

"At this pace we'll die of exhaustion before we even reach our destination." Beth pointed out.

"She has a point." Tyreese agreed.

"We need to keep moving." Carol all but commanded.

"The map said that there's a road a few meters to our left. There has to be an abandoned car or road house that we can rest in for an hour or so. Then we can continue on through the night." Beth pointed out her plan on a map they'd taken from one of the Terminus signs; she hoped Carol was willing to compromise.

"No, we continue on now." Carol dismissed Beth again.

"Fine." Beth snapped.

She didn't like the condescending treatment from Carol. They had always gotten along but Beth noticed a drastic change in her personality in the last few months, most notably the past day or so since their reunion. If she wasn't going to listen to Beth, Carol could continue on without her… and Judith. Beth stood up and motioned for Lorena and Gabriel to follow her to the tree line.

"Stop!" Carol shouted.

Beth stated matter-of-factly. "We need rest or we risk exhaustion."  
"If you go you leave Judith." Carol commanded.

"I won't get two feet before she throws a temper tantrum loud enough to alert all the walkers in the area." Beth reminded her. "Besides, I found fresh boot tracks. They could lead us to Daryl."

"Those prints could belong to just about anybody." Carol retorted.

"I know his boot prints and the pattern fits his typical stride. I also know that yesterday was the first time it drizzled in days. These were from after it stopped raining otherwise they would've been washed out."

"Carol, why are you being so unreasonable?" Tyreese asked. He was clearly impressed with Beth's newly acquired skills and was getting annoyed with Carol's attitude.

"I don't like taking orders from a child. Nor do I want Judith to be out here any longer necessary." Carol admitted.

"If we don't get some rest we put Judith at risk, keeping her safe is my first priority." Beth assured her.

"Doesn't seem like it." Carol muttered.

"That's enough." Tyreese growled. "Beth's right. We've barely eaten or slept in days, and I for one need to recharge before we continue on. So Beth, lead the way."

Crouching down to examine the prints Beth had a good idea of the direction they were headed. She stayed low, keeping her eyes open for walkers or any sign of movement. Carol seethed a few feet behind Beth as she was forced to follow the direction of a girl at least twenty years her junior. Beth ignored the attitude and tried not to gloat, she didn't want to make Lorena, Tyreese, and Gabriel any more uncomfortable than they already were.

As predicted, four or so meters off the rails the tracks led to a small road flanked by dense woods. There was no sign of a road house or even a gas station but much to Beth's surprise there was an old abandoned GMC SUV, a couple of the windows were cracked but nothing that would compromise the protection of the vehical. It was enough to comfortably fit four adults and Judith while Gus and one of the adults kept watch.

"Nice work Beth." Tyreese gave her a smile.

"I was the last one awake, why don't I take first watch. I'll wake you up in an hour or so." Beth offered.

"You might want to come look at this." Gabriel's voice came from the front of the car.

Beth's heart stopped when she looked down to see blood droplets on the ground near the back of the car. Her eyes surveyed the ground; Gus was sniffing at a dark piece of cloth on the ground near the driver's door. Beth crouched down and picked up a familiar looking black bandana that was damp and smeared in blood. Following Gabriel's voice, she saw him standing by six bodies covered in tarps. He pulled back one of the tarps and let out a grunt.

"It's those guys I was telling you about." Gabriel said to Beth.

Beth and Carol exchanged panicked looks, both on the same page. Carol ripped the tarps off of all the bodies to examine their faces. The two women let out a sigh of relief when none of them were familiar.

"Four were shot, one was gutted, and the other has a chunk missing from his throat." Carol said quietly. "But they all have some sort of head wounds. Looks like someone wanted to make sure they stayed dead."

"That doesn't make sense." Beth muttered.

"What?" Gabriel asked.

"The bite." Beth answered. "He wouldn't last long if he had a torn jugular, he would've bled out in minutes. That means he was killed here."

"This is some serious CSI shit." Tyreese muttered. "He was probably bitten by a walker."

_There are no walker corpses and their weapons are gone. _Beth thought with a shiver.

"Let's cover em up, then we'll get some sleep." Tyreese suggested. "We should keep it short; we don't want to be around when walkers smell food."

Beth sat cross legged in the shade of the car with Gus curled up next to her. Peaking up every few minutes to survey the area, Beth poured over the map of the area that she spread out on the ground in front of her. The cool autumn breeze sent a shiver down her spine and goose bumps prickled her bare arms. She was about to go steal a jacket from one of the dead men when the car door clicked quietly and Tyreese slid out of the front seat to relieve Beth of guard duty.

"Whacha looking at?" He asked quietly, hoping not to wake up Judith.

"Given our luck with new people the past week or so I was thinking maybe it would be a good idea to stay off the tracks and approach Terminus through the woods." Beth explained.

"Why don't we just follow the tracks?" Carol appeared next to Tyreese holding a squirmy Judith. Carol walked over and handed the baby to Beth, once the baby was securely in the little bolnde's arms she stopped fussing and let out a big yawn. Beth could tell that Carol was having a hard time relinquishing Judith duty to Beth, but it was for the best right now. Carol was also making an attempt to listen before she ultimately decided no. Beth couldn't help but wonder if Tyreese had a few choice words with Carol.

"I've been looking over this map and it looks like the tracks wind around the woods a bit, if we follow them I don't think we'll make it until tomorrow about midday. And that's assuming we walk through the night with no stops." Beth backed up her points with the map. "But, if we start from here and walk through the woods it looks like it'll be a straight shot. We should be able to get there tonight."

"But then it won't bring us through to the front gate." Tyreese observed.

"It won't but as we walk around to the front we can stick closely to the tree line and try to scout the area a bit." Beth reasoned.

"I think you might be becoming more paranoid than I am." Carol joked lightly. "I think we should follow the tracks and go through the front."

"Why don't we ask the priest-" Tyreese began.

"Gabriel." Beth cut in.

"And the girl-"

"Lorena."

"Fine, why don't we ask Gabriel and Lorena what they want to do." Tyreese suggested. "It appears that they're part of our little group now, and the girl – Lorena – isn't looking too well."

"She's been through a lot." Beth stated cryptically. Carol's interest looked piqued but she wasn't going to pry… at least not yet.

"We think Beth's idea is the best choice." Gabriel called from inside the car. Lorena just nodded absently.

"Alright then, through the woods we go." Carol sounded defeated.

"Why don't you get some rest and we can leave in about an hour." Tyreese offered.

"No, if everyone else is ready we can leave now. All I needed was some shade to sit in." Beth said with a smile.

Truth be told in the few chances that she had gotten to get some sleep, she was plagued with three dreams – watching her daddy die, the night she and Daryl were separated, and Coop. Sometimes they would morph into one and she'd wake up whimpering. But for now she could function with some sit down time, her legs were rested and ready for more walking.

"Besides these corpses are going to draw some unwanted attention." Beth pointed out when Tyreese and Gabriel looked like they were going to argue with her.

Beth handed Judith off to Carol, got to her feet and walked over to the tarps. She looked over the corpses, two of them had head shots and their jackets were relatively clean. Beth wrestled one out of a faded leather jacket and the other out of a worn out denim one. She slipped on the denim one and tossed the other to Lorena.

"I know it's disgusting but it's gonna get cold soon. We need to keep warm." Beth reminded her.

"Your arms are gonna get tired carrying that baby Bethie." Maggie's voice whispered in the back of Beth's head.

_I don't have a carrier. _Beth thought.

"Remember what mama used to do when we were little and you insisted we take your dolls into town?" Maggie asked.

_A sling… I can make a sling. _Beth answered.

Beth looked around for the biggest piece of material she could find. Luckily someone had covered the driver's side window with a sheet, it was a little tattered at the ends but looked sturdy enough to serve her purpose. All eyes were on Beth as she took the sheet, closed her eyes and tried to remember what her mama did. She could see her mama's hands folded the sheet in half, wrapped it around Beth like a sash and tied it with a slip knot at the shoulder. Beth mimicked her mother's movements with the long piece of fabric.

Once she made sure the knot was secure, Beth walked over to Carol, took Judith and slid her into the sling created between the two layers of sheet. Beth was thankful for the new carrier, now Judith had more protection from the elements and with her being nestled down into the folds of the sheet she had a little more protection from the walkers. Not to mention it left Beth's arms free and distributed the baby's weight across her small frame. Apparently Judith liked it too, she was happily curled up in the fetal position ready to travel.

Tyreese folded up the map and handed it to Beth, which she shoved it in the sling next to Judith. Beth slung her bag over her back, double checking that the bolts were still there. They gathered what little they had and headed out in the direction the map sent them.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Lorena asked meekly.

"My mama." Beth answered with a smile.

"Is she-" Lorena didn't finish her question.

"Yeah, she's been gone for a while now." Beth gave Carol a weak smile, they were both thinking about the same day. The day that Beth realized her mother was gone and not coming back, the same day that Carol's missing little girl walked out of the barn. "She and my brother were infected when this all began."

"And you just lost your dad?" Lorena inquired.

"Hershel's dead?" Carol gasped.

"He died the day the prison fell." Tyreese said quietly.

She missed her mama and her daddy, and the rest of her family. Beth knew deep in her hear that Maggie was still alive and was determined to find her. Maggie was all she had left of her old life, the carefree family filled days of a 16 year old whose biggest problem was what she wanted to do with her life. Now she was more concerned with staying alive than what she wanted to be when she grew up.

The conversation stopped and the group trekked on. Everyone was on their guard, listening intently for signs of walkers or unsavory people. They encountered surprisingly few walkers on their way, for some reason that unsettled Beth… and she didn't know why. It was getting dark when Beth noticed Lorena looking fatigued.

"Can we stop for a few? We're almost there but I really need to go to the bathroom." Beth asked. It wasn't an outright lie more of a stretch of the truth.

"I think we could all use a little rest." Carol admitted.

"I'll take a look at the map, we should be to Terminus soon." Tyreese tried to contain his happiness.

"Here, I'll take her while you go take care of business." Carol held her arms out for Judith.

"Thank you."

Carol carefully pulled the baby out of the pouch and walked over to Tyreese and Gabriel who were pouring over the map.

"I'll go with you." Lorena said.

"Buddy system right." Beth was secretly happy that Lorena was speaking rather than being caught up in her own head. Lord only knew what was going on in there… well Beth had a good idea of the memories that were replaying on loop.

"Don't want to get caught with your pants down." Lorena joked.

The two girls giggled as they walked a little ways from their companions with Gus the dog close on the heels. The laughter died down by the time they were done doing their business. Beth was re-buckling her belt when she heard the almost silent crunching of leaves nearby and a low rumble sounding from Gus's chest. Lorena jumped when Beth's head whipped in the direction of the sound. Three walkers were walking in the opposite direction towards something; one of them spotted the girls and started walking their way. Beth knew that they couldn't run back to the others, it would lead the walker right to them, so she made the decision to go after it.

"Don't." Lorena begged.

"I'm going to take care of them." Beth ignored the pleas. "The others are just beyond those trees. Go and tell them I went to take care of a couple walkers, I don't want to lead them back especially with Judith. If I'm not back in twenty minutes go for Terminus and don't stop."

"But-" Lorena tried to protest but Beth took off the baby sling and tossed it to Lorena.

"I'll take Gus, just go. I'll be fine." Beth assured her.

With Gus by her side, Beth unsheathed her hunting knife and headed towards the walkers. She could hear some commotion but trees were blocking her view. As she crept closer she could see someone dispatching two of the walkers while the third crept up on him. Beth swooped in and sunk her knife in the base of the walker's skull just before it could grab its prey. The walker went limp and Beth could see a familiar set of angel wings as the figure whirled around, crossbow in hand.

Daryl dropped his crossbow looking as though he'd seen a ghost. They stood staring, unsure if this was a dream. Beth couldn't help herself; she barreled towards Daryl and jumped into his arms. Daryl held her tight when she buried her face in the crook of his neck, she didn't think he was ever going to let go. She didn't think she wanted him to.

Daryl's breath hitched and he blinked back tears as he took in the angelic sight of his missing companion. Words couldn't describe what he was feeling, the world had gone to shit but finally he was granted this one thing. Beth had never seen Daryl cry before; she'd seen the puffy eyed aftermath the day his brother died but Daryl played his emotions close to the vest.

"I told you you'd miss me when I was gone." Beth murmured.

After a few minutes Beth could feel Daryl's body tense up, shutting down his emotions and cutting their reunion short. Beth detangled herself from Daryl and stood up. She could hear him growl when he examined her, the stitches on the side of her face were just scabbing over and the bruises were still deep purple. Daryl looked just as bruised and beaten with a split lip, black eye, and various scrapes on his face.

"I'll be damned." Michonne breathed.

Beth looked up to see Michonne, Rick and Carl gaping at her. Each one sporting welts, scrapes and bruises, painting a pretty clear picture of who was responsible for the guys under the tarps. Daryl noticed Gus when he bent over to reload his crossbow.

"Where'd you get that goddamn mutt?" Daryl grumbled.

"His name is Gus." Beth answered.

"Woman that don't answer the question."

"Daryl Dixon, is that any way to talk to a lady." Carol scolded him.

Tyreese, Lorena, and Gabriel appeared with their weapons drawn, ready to help Beth at a moment's notice. Rick's attention shifted from Beth to a small lump of blankets in Carol's arms. They exchanged some sort of look, almost a white flag of truce. Carol walked over and handed Judith to her father, tears streamed down his face as he hugged his little girl tight. Carl ran up to his father and gave his little sister a kiss on the head.

"Who the hell are they?" Daryl glanced between Beth and Gabriel. "Is this the asshole that kidnapped you?"

"Well, yes and no."

"Imma beat your ass." Daryl spat, Beth softly placed her hand on Daryl's arm as he took a few steps towards the preacher.

"Don't, he thought he was helping." Beth assured him. "He's been helping me try to find you."

"Looks like he helped you real good." Daryl shut up when he received a sharp glance from Rick.

"That wasn't him." Lorena breathed.

"We need to make camp for the night, and then we can hash this out." Michonne stated.

It didn't take long to assemble a make shift camp for the night, they spent most nights like this before they found the prison. Everyone had a job, even Lorena and Gabriel pitched in. Daryl hadn't looked at Beth once since they reunited but he shot cold looks towards Gabriel. Camp was set up before darkness set in, Gabriel and Michonne decided to take first watch. Gus circled the camp a few times before settling at Rick's side curling around Judith.

"We spent most of the afternoon scouting out the place, it's a little weird." Rick explained to the group. "There's fencing around the perimeter with a number of shipping containers. I think we should split into groups and go in in stages."

"That sounds like the best idea." Carol agreed.

"What did you have in mind?" Tyreese asked.

"Carl, Daryl, Michonne and I will go in over the back fence first thing tomorrow morning; it'll catch them off guard since they direct everyone to the front. If everything is on the up and up we'll come back out for you."

"What about the rest of us?" Gabriel asked.

"If we're not back by the following morning Ty, Carol, and Gabriel will go in through the front." Rick explained.

"What about me, Lorena, and Judith?" Beth asked.

"Your job is the most important, you keep Judith safe at all costs." Said Michonne. "If we're not back by the end of the second day get as far from here as possible."

Beth and Lorena nodded knowing full well that if the second day came they would have nowhere to go. Nowhere was safe.

"How'd you meet Beth?" Carl asked.

"It's sort of a long story." Beth attempted to change the subject.

"She hasn't even really told us." Carol interjected. Damn, that woman was really turning into a busy body.

"Well Daryl and I got out of the prison together." Beth started. "One of the houses we holed up in got overrun by walkers. Daryl and I got separated and I pretty much ran head first into a tree. I was out cold and Pastor Gabriel thought he was saving me."

"What the hell were you doing there anyway?" Daryl barked.

"I stock a few houses with food and check on them every few days for people who need a refuge. I'd take them back to my church and gave them the option of staying or continuing on towards Terminus."

"No offense Gabe, but you're a shitty judge of character." Lorena piped in. "Not as many people left for Terminus as you think."

Everyone was taken aback by Lorena's words, for the past few days she'd flopped between the shadow of her old self and a girl who needed to be on suicide watch. Beth prayed she didn't go into any farther detail.

"Beth saved my life." Lorena added.

"How so?" Carol asked.

"She got us out of the basement." Lorena said.

"What basement?" Daryl growled.

"Gabriel went out to look for more survivors and a couple men in the camp threw me in the basement with Lorena." Beth explained. Based on the disgusted looks on the faces around her, she knew that everyone could read between the lines. "I used the knives we found the day I got my foot caught in the trap to pull the nails out of plank that boarded up the window. Coop went to shoot me during our escape but Gus bit him, so I was just grazed. The noise was drawing walkers so we got out of there as fast as we could. I killed two men and left one wounded to die, I know I should feel bad that I took another human being's life…"

"They don't sound like men to me." Michonne stated.

"Are you going to ignore me forever Daryl Dixon?" Beth asked as she plopped herself down to the right of him.

He just shrugged and stared at the fire. Beth pulled out the pillow case full of bolts and handed them to Daryl, hoping it would make a good peace offering.

"Don't do that to me Daryl, don't shut me out again." She whispered.

"It's my fault." He murmured into the dark.

"What's your fault? That I was taken? From the sounds of it I would've suffered a similar fate if I'd stayed with you."

"Yeah but-" Daryl tried to protest.

"No buts." She placed her hand gently on his. "If it weren't for you I would've died back there. You were the one that taught me how to survive, they almost broke me in that basement but the whole time I had you and Maggie in my head reminding me that giving up was not an option."

Daryl just snorted.

"It's true, how do you think we found you? I tracked you most of the way from the tracks."

That got his attention. Daryl wrapped his arm around Beth and pulled her close, tightly intertwining her right hand into his. The corner of his mouth quirked up when he noticed she was wearing his ratty old shirt under her oversized denim jacket.

"I thought you smelled a little too ripe for a girl." Daryl joked. "You ok?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Beth answered truthfully. "Did you see any of the signs along the tracks?"

"The Terminus ones? Or the ones your sister left for Glenn?"

"Maggie's."

"What about em?"

"Am I so useless that even my own sister gave up on me?" Beth could feel a tear slip down her face.

"From the sounds of it you're far from useless, you may very well be the strongest of us all." Daryl answered. "You once told me I'd be the last man standing but I think you're wrong… I think you'll be the last woman standing."

That thought both honored and terrified Beth. The two sat in a comfortable silence, everyone else in the company looked at the unlikely duo huddled under the tree. They never really interacted while they were all in the prison, but there was no denying that something happened to forge such a bond between them.


End file.
